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The Dodgers and Left Field

Although Bill Hall has signed with Houston, the Dodgers have been in contact with Marcus Thames and Scott and Jerry Hairston as possible free agent candidates for left field. Hall was at the top of the club’s list because of a combination power and versatility (he can also play the middle infield). Thames has had seasons of 26 and 25 home runs, but hit only 12 this year with the Yankees. Scott Hairston lacks Thames’ power and hit only .210 this year for San Diego. He hasn’t played the infield since 2008. Jerry Hairston has even less power than his brother and hit .244 with the Padres in 2010, playing primarily in the infield. – Ken Gurnick

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Thame´s the most (only) viable option of the guys that where mentioned…Now that the situation has developed itself…what about the idea of going after a 3B (A. Beltre) and leave the LF for a Gibbons/Blake platoon I´ve been supportive to this ideas since the beginning it´s a shame E. Encarnacion already signed elsewhere he was a much cheaper and viable option…If not Adam Laroche would be a nice option too… GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!

Of the players available, Thames makes the most sense due to his power. The Hairston brothers are not an upgrade to the LF situation. The Dodgers already have players with similar abilities already on the roster like Carroll and Paul. Jorge Cantu is another possibility due to his ability to play multiple positions especially both corner IF positions as well as the OF. Jorge Cantu also has enough power to hit double-digit HRs.

If possible the best solution for left field would be to make a trade for Carlos Quintin from the White Sox’s. He would be perfect for the Dodgers he’s only 28 has power and is a local kid from bellflower, ca.

I like the idea of Quentin but at what cost and would the Sox entertain offers? Other options……J. Dye. How about moving Blake to LF and getting someone to play 2nd (not Carroll who is better suited for utility)(maybe someone like Renteria) and moving Uribe to 3rd. Or……..get someone to play 3rd. a return of Beltre would be great but not realistic. I would settle for a good glove (aka P. Feliz). What do you think Ned????

I would rather have Jerry Hairston Jr. 1)because he played 119 games at 2nd,ss,3rd,lf,cf and rf and made only 7 errors.2)he has some power 10hrs and 50rbi”s and 9 stolen bases.3)because I feel if we played Gibbons in lf against rh pitchers he could hit 20hrs.He”s done it 4 times before.EXCLUDING Gibbons we had only 11hrs from our left fielders in 550 ab”s.Gibbons arrived and he had 5 in only 75 ab’s.

Whoever they sign i hope he’s a good utility player, because that’s where he’ll be playing after Jerry Sands wins the starting left field job. Dodger fans you’re going to love this kid. We’re going to have a great year!

The pitching looks good, although Broxton as the closer again is a concern. Kuo is too fragile to count on as closer for the year. Closer by committee?

The offense looks very weak. Ethier has proven he can’t hit left handed pitching. If Kemp does as poorly at the plate as last year, then centerfield is a offensive problem area. Furcal, if he does well desite his back, makes SS a plus offensively. But otherwise, each position is well below average offensively. Even Uribe at second is below average in On Base Percentage and Batting Average for second, and if he plays third, even worse. We will get next to nothing out of C, 1B, 3B, and LF.

I think it is foolish to waste money on a mid-level solution.
Jay Gibbons has the power to give him an everyday opportunity. Tony Gwynn did not hit as well as we know he can and his speed could be a bigger asset then power. Juan Castro can play left field. We passed on the likes of Werth so forget about employing another failure

I like the idea of getting getting Guillen but let him play left. Eithier is a very good RF even though he has a tendency to misjudge fly balls falling to his left side. Who ever said let Blake play left please remember hes over 35 years old and hasn’t played left field since ’07 AND was never fast in the first place. Sands would be a good idea and i think the organization would be more confident in him if they were putting a better offense on the field. I think right now the best fit in left is Podsednik but it looks like he’s gonna sign with the angels :

dodgers would hav never signed with Werth, he hates them for releasing him after injury riddled seasons in ’05-’06. He had filed a lawsuit against the dodgers saying they ruined his career before winning the series w/ Phillies in ’08

Forget either Hairston. We already have better players on the roster to play LF. I would go after Johnny Damon. He is a proven fielder, is a veteran that can still play and has a good career Batting Average. Why even consider anyone that is no better than what we already have. How and why did we lose out on Hall? What happened? I know we were close. Where did Houston come from? Was Colletti asleep? And forget Podsesnik. He didn’t show anything last year.

People, how many times do we have to tell you, the Dodgers do not have the money to sign Beltre. GET OVER IT! The guy wants five years in the $85 to $90 million, that’s approx. 17 million/year. Do the math, the Dodgers CANNOT pay him. One guy they could afford is Jermaine Dye. Platoon him with Gibbons and you may have success there. He can probably be signed for 3-5 million/yr. Trading for someone like Quentin will hurt us in other areas, IMO it needs to be a free agent signing. We could trade some pitching, but that would undo everything Colletti has worked for this off-season.

Colletti! c’mon now! Sign Beltre and/or jonny damon/jermaine dye! have you forgotten about dye’s power!? he had a 40 plus homer season and still hits for power and can play left or right! the dodgers need someone who can hit home runs! we have not had someone like that since oh i dont know? BELTRE!!!! With the addition of a couple good veterans like these 3 i mentioned the dodgers will actually have a chance! i know i will start paying to go to the games if there was something to look forward to but all i see right now is another failed season with no one with power/3b/LF/. cMON COLLETI get some power hitters like damon beltre and dye! if you get all three the dodgers will dominate!
p.s. dye and damon will come cheap but beltre wont

wat is this hairston or thames talk?! if thats the case just put what we already have like gibbons or carrol. if you want to spend money on players who are of the same caliber and maybe less of what the dodgers already have then go ahead! dont make the fans happy

Lets go forward not backswards with Damon and DYE, those guys are at the end of their career and don’t let beltre stick it to us again like he did before. Mithchell can play 1st and 3rd, probably hit 12 to 15 HR. Sands can play lf, rf, 3rd base and 1st and hit 15 to 18 HR. That would push loney to get more pop in his bat with these guys comming up behind him. Along with Uribe, Kemp, Ethier and Gibbons and Blake comming off the bench there will be alot of balls leaving the ballpark.

Wow. Throw money away on guys that hit .210 or that never play LF and have no power, no speed, no ability to contribute anything. Although this is what Colletti specializes in, bottom of the barrel junk, I would rather play Xavier Paul all year long than collect the trash of the league and pretend we have acquired a real solution in left. No more veterans off the scrap heap. If you’re not going to invest in quality players, then just play kids so they have a chance to develop some skill at this level.

My take on the Dodgers left field possition would be to trade for a Carlos Quintin type player, we need someone to protect Kemp and Either like Manny did when he first came to town.
Texas and ChiSox are two teams with extra big bats for trade.
I believe we are one big bat away from taking this thing to the next level….Go big Blue !!!

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